Smart Sprinkler 2nd Generation Specifications

9.2"

5.5"

February

2

2016

2.5

680474 003150

Editorial Review

Water is a renewable resource...sort of. It recycles itself through evaporation and precipitation, but the amount of useable water goes down faster than we can make it reusable And cleaning it up is expensive. So unless we want to find ourselves without water resources for drinking and irrigation, we have to use it carefully.

Smart sprinkler controllers are designed to help us use water as efficiently as possible. And to save on our water bills at the same time.

The Rachio Smart Sprinkler 2nd Generation is self-scheduling. It analyzes weather forecasts along with historical weather records to decide when watering is needed, though you're the real boss here. You can change its schedule via smartphone app, though unless you tell it otherwise it will refuse to water if it's already raining. What's the use of duplicating nature's own irrigation controller?

It's also smart enough to take your soil composition and the type of vegetation that you're growing into account. Some types need more water, some types need less. The Smart Sprinkler can handle up to 16 different watering zones and you can add rain sensors so that it will know how much water it doesn't need to supply.

Rachio says that you should have little problem swapping the Smart Sprinkler with your old controller and that no special tools will be required. And, of course, they point out that government rebates in some areas may pay for the unit, so you're both saving money and getting a smart device for free. That's win-win: Save the environment, save on your budget.